As time passes, Yamamoto and his new gang emerge as a powerful force, gradually expanding their turf to an extent that they must confront the Mafia. The Mafia's attacks are ruthless, and soon Yamamoto and his gang are driven into a disastrous situation of no return as they are hunted down one by one.

The theatrical release of Brother in the US (and, therefore, the corresponding Sony Pictures ClassicsRegion 1 DVD) contains a censored version of the film. Approximately one minute of footage was cut and various scenes digitally edited to remove blood, primarily so the film could attain an "R" rating. Most of the edits were for violence, although several key/memorable scenes were edited.

The uncut version of the film was released in the UK (Region 2) with an 18 rating, and Japan (Region 2J), also with a 18 rating.

At the time of its release, Brother was hyped as Kitano's vehicle for breaking into the United States film market. The film has a 47% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 73 reviews.[2]Roger Ebert, who has praised all of Kitano's films he has seen, complimented Kitano in his review but ultimately rated the film two out of four stars, writing that "Brother is a typical Kitano film in many ways, but not one of his best ones."[3]

On his side, Kitano stated in an interview that he was not fully satisfied with the final result of Brother and that he regretted his "Hollywood" adventure which was supposed to bring him a broader audience with a higher exposure. Kitano said he had no intention of shooting outside Japan again.[this quote needs a citation]